Air Premia partners with Southwest Airlines to unlock 120-plus US routes

Air Premia has teamed up with Southwest Airlines, the largest low-cost carrier in the United States, to expand its domestic US connectivity. It marks the first time a Korean airline has signed an interline agreement with Southwest.

Air Premia announced Wednesday that it has concluded an interline agreement with Southwest Airlines and will begin offering linked services. An interline arrangement allows passengers to travel on flights operated by two different airlines under a single ticket.

Under the agreement, Air Premia passengers will be able to connect to more than 120 Southwest routes across the United States and Central and North America. Travelers flying from Korea on Air Premia can transfer at their US arrival airport onto Southwest domestic or regional flights.

The main transfer hubs are Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu. The arrangement is expected to improve access to major US cities that lack direct service from Korea, including Las Vegas, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Denver, Portland and Nashville.

Tickets will go on sale through travel agencies and online booking channels later this month.

Southwest is widely regarded as the low-cost carrier with the most extensive domestic network in the United States, operating routes across the country and to 11 nations in Central and North America. Air Premia expects the partnership to capture transfer demand centered on its West Coast routes, while Southwest gains a new connection point for travelers originating in Korea and elsewhere in East Asia.

Southwest has been broadening its international interline partnerships, having recently launched a similar arrangement with Singapore Airlines. The carrier is also expanding its network this year with new destinations including St. Thomas, Sint Maarten, Knoxville and Anchorage.

However, passengers should be aware of US customs procedures. Travelers arriving from Korea who plan to connect to another US city must collect their checked baggage at the first port of entry, clear customs and then re-check their bags for the onward domestic flight.

The process is simpler in the other direction. Passengers transferring from a Southwest domestic flight onto an Air Premia international flight can have their baggage checked through to their final destination, making the return journey to Korea relatively more convenient.

Air Premia said it intends to use the agreement to strengthen its competitiveness on trans-Pacific routes. The carrier currently operates long-haul services to Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, and already has interline arrangements in place with Korean Air, Thai Airways and T'way Air.

"Through our partnership with Southwest Airlines, we are now able to offer much broader travel convenience to both major US cities and regional destinations," an Air Premia official said. "We will continue to expand cooperation with global airlines to widen customer choice and deliver competitive travel services."